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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 09:55 pm |
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This is for those who are interested in pheasant hunting and the Great Plains.
A couple weeks ago one of our members, Bill Bolyard in northern Michigan contacted me about getting warm and hunting pheasant. So i put together a hunt at a friend's place in Dodge City, Kansas.
But on the way out we stopped by a nice little western town in the Flint Hills, Cottonwood Falls. The courthouse:
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 09:58 pm |
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And on the brick main street. Charlie Herzog and Bill Bolyard.
Some of these small Kansas towns have buff or yellowish brick streets, hence the name Yellow Brick Road from the Frank Baum book Wizard of Oz.
Attached Image (viewed 398 times):
 Last edited on Fri Jan 23rd, 2009 04:36 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:01 pm |
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And then continued to Dodge City to pick up the fourth member of our Parker wielding group, Doc Jim Van Blaricum of Pratt, Kansas. Then to dinner with my friends and our hosts.
L-R:, Doc Van, Bill Bolyard, Don Hornung, Christie Hornung, Matt Hornung, and Charlie Herzog.
Bill is still out in SW Kansas and intends to go further out to the Cimarron National Grasslands in the SW corner. There are both bobwhite and scaled quail there. Most of the western counties have at least 10,000 acres each of walk in public hunting and the opportunities are endless. We'll have a report from Bill when he gets back to Michigan, perhaps in the spring thaw.
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 Last edited on Wed Jan 21st, 2009 12:06 am by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:07 pm |
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We stayed in the Hornung's bunkhouse/cabin on a bend of Duck Creek and north of town. There are horses in the pasture, we let the dogs run, there is a prairie dog town on the hilltop, and a person can see for miles. We had the place to ourselves, snug and cozy.
The next morning, out to hunt. It was cold in the morning, we started at about 40degrees, but climbed to 62 in the afternoon.
Desperados, Dodge City, 2009
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 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:09 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:10 pm |
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And it wasn't long before Bill connected with the first pheasant.
Bill stepped up and is now our latest life member.
Attached Image (viewed 397 times):
 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:47 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:12 pm |
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| Charlie and his dog Abby. Attached Image (viewed 396 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:14 pm |
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| There wasn't much cover in a lot of places but the birds were there. Attached Image (viewed 397 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:19 pm |
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| And it wasn't long before Doc Van connected. Doc is 74, recovering from heart surgery, but physically fit. He has long been a Kansas civic and professional leader and world traveler/sportsman. Attached Image (viewed 395 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:22 pm |
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Christie Hornung, our driver, who enjoyed her time with the boys and would drive a pick up truck to pick us up at the end of a long walk and take us back to our cars.
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Bruce Day
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Richard Dow
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Wed Apr 20th, 2005 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 145 |
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Offline
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:23 pm |
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How come you took them to the warm place? Is it because I'm from California?
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:25 pm |
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| Dodge City desperados, circa 1878. Attached Image (viewed 387 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:30 pm |
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Dodge City gunmen, 2009.
The Hornungs own a major Great Plains agricultural implement manufacturing company and are long time friends. Bill, Charlie, Doc, all are and were successful in business and the professions are enjoying the fruits of their labor and achievement.
L-R: Doctor Van, Bill, me, Charlie and Don Hornung.
We hunted for three days and shot about 20 pheasant. We raised 4-5 coveys of bobwhite quail every day and got quite a few also. We were not specifically after quail. At the end of the season, the birds, all fully wild, are wary and likely to flush out of range. Many shots were long, 40 to 50 yards, but tight choked Parkers and large size shot did the job. Temperatures were in the 60s on Sat, Sun and Mon, but the winds raised to over 30mph on Sun, so we cut the day short.
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 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:37 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:40 pm |
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At night we brought out the Parkers for show and tell.
Three CHE 20's. Not often you see three together.
L-R, my CHE 20dam, Charlie's CHE 20dam, Van's CHE 20ga Acme.
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 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:42 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:44 pm |
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| And side views: Attached Image (viewed 375 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:45 pm |
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| With pretty wood, all Circassian walnut. Attached Image (viewed 372 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:48 pm |
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So we like the plains, others may prefer the big woods, but to some there is something compelling about the wind and the open.
We love our rivers. Here is Charlie knee deep in the Arkansas River.
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 Last edited on Wed Jan 21st, 2009 01:57 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 10:53 pm |
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And Van didn't miss many. He mostly shot a VHE 12ga 30" full and fuller. Van shot for years in the Kansas state trap championships.
The hat is from a shoot in the Scottish highlands for driven grouse. It seems perfect for the plains.
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 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:03 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:06 pm |
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And another of the gang. The Dalton Gang holed up on the lam from the Pinkertons not very far south of here. Perhaps these fellows are descendents of those gunslingers.
L-R: Van, Don, Charlie, Matt and Bill. About the second day in, Bill was finally starting to thaw out. When he left upper Michigan a few days before, it was -11. Here it was 68.
Attached Image (viewed 370 times):
 Last edited on Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:08 pm by Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:13 pm |
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| And the plains again. Attached Image (viewed 367 times):
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Bruce Day
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Bruce Day
PGCA Member
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Posted: Tue Jan 20th, 2009 11:15 pm |
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| The last afternoon we stopped by the hamlet of Windthorst and St Mary Immaculata, built by German settlers in 1895, and Don's grandparents. Attached Image (viewed 365 times):
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Bruce Day
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